One more year, the Business Solutions Center of Arroyo de la Encomienda (Valladolid), has been the setting for the interesting Forum-Exhibition “The Historic Vehicle: An Opportunity for the Future” organized by the Government of Castilla y León, and with Fernando Romanos, technician of the General Directorate of Industry of the Board, as its commissioner.
The forum, which was created with the aim of promoting the restoration and conservation of historic vehicles, due to their contribution to the region’s economy and means of generating jobs, in this ninth edition has been developed under the title “Microcars and other post-war mobility solutions.
Friday’s day began with Mariano Veganzones Díez, Minister of Industry, Commerce and Employment of the Government of Castilla y León, who underlined in his speech the objective of this forum, that of promoting industrial activity, which around historical vehicles is generated, in their restoration, use and conservation, favoring the implementation of specialized companies in the region, which ensure that after an adequate restoration and subsequent ITV, the circulation of these vehicles is guaranteed in optimal safety conditions, to the instead of positively influencing the economy and employment. The counselor also highlighted that, since the entry into force of the Historic Vehicle Regulations in 1995, four thousand have been cataloged in Castilla y León.
After the opening ceremony, tribute was paid, in an event masterfully conducted by the journalist Paco Forjas, to the always missed and prestigious Valladolid restaurateur Luis Rodríguez Peñas, a collaborator of the forum since its inception and who unfortunately lost his life in a traffic accident ago. two years.
The new regulations for historic vehicles
The next intervention would come with the presentation of Francisco de las Alas-Pumariño, head of the Regulatory Unit of the General Directorate of Traffic, who presented the draft of the new Regulation of Historic Vehicles, which has generated so much expectation. It was a complete and illustrative exhibition, carried out with a perfect knowledge of the world of classics, their problems and the rules that affect them, and that clarified many doubts among fans, in addition to highlighting the VH, highlighting the 1.4 million there are in the United Kingdom compared to less than fifty thousand in Spain.
Post-war microcars
Next, after an introduction by journalist Santiago de Garnica, under the title “Gabriel Voisin, the genius who hid behind the Biscuter”, a round table on microcars was held. The renowned journalist and writer Manuel Garriga participated in it, author, among others, of the book “Biscuter” but who also delved into the PTV; Ramón Pradas, industrial technical engineer and restorer of more than one hundred and seventy units of the popular model manufactured by Autonacional and Miguel Martín Zurimendi, ergonomic doctor and automobile historian, author of books such as “The automobile in Vizcaya 1896-1996 Chronicle of a centenary”, and deep connoisseur of Goggomobil and its historical surroundings.
The meeting served to make an interesting analysis of the world of “microcars”, from all points of view, from the technical to the industrial, from the political, legal and economic problems that conditioned their existence, to the technical ones. The audience heard how oil drums were recycled to build bodies or how the INI and its protectionist approaches meant the death of the Biscuter, Isetta, Goggomobil or PTV, for many one of the most beautiful microcars, while the spirit of personal adventure finished with other projects.
Fifty years of Michelin in Valladolid
The day closed with the conference “Michelin, 50 years in Valladolid”, led by Julián Picapiedra, responsible for External Relations Castilla y León Michelin, who took a tour of the origin, development and expansion of the Bibendum plant in the capital of Valladolid and from which the first tire was born, for tourism and destined for the American market, on October 2, 1973.
Within the program of the forum-exhibition, on Monday, October 30, Agustín Sigüenza Molina, general director of FP and Special Regime of the Department of Education of the Board, inaugurated the day on vehicle restoration, with the attendance of two hundred and fifty students from different Vocational Training centers in Castilla y León.
Throughout it, three presentations were held: “Restoration work on a historic vehicle”, given by Alfonso Álvarez Ruiz; «Design, manufacture and tuning of a competition vehicle», by Jesús Gómez Carpintero and Ángel Correa; and “Practical demonstrations in the use of new materials: reproduction of body parts in fiberglass and polyester”, by Carlos Simón.
For their part, the students of the Santa María del Camino school, in Madrid, presented their project for a small electric car, destined to participate in the Greenpower Iberia, a competition endorsed among others by the Royal Spanish Automobile Federation.
The day closed with the intervention of José Luis Santiago de la Fuente, head of the Industrial Sector Support Service and Metrology of the Board.
Exposure
Along with the conference, a complete exhibition of vehicles in different states has been organized, from how they have been found abandoned in farms or old garages to a perfect state of restoration.
It includes PTV, Biscuter microcars with various bodies including the Serra (known as “Pegasín”), Isetta, Goggomobil, or Vespa 400, along with Vespino or GAC Mobilette mopeds, motorcycles, Isocarros, Vespacar (among others, a curious unit with trailer) or cars that were protagonists of the post-war period and the recovery of mobility until the end of the fifties and beginning of the sixties, such as the Seat 1400 and 600, Renault 4/4 or the Citroën 2 CV.
Added to this is a spectacular reproduction of Henry Ford’s workshop where he built his first car, which includes a replica of it.
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